I thought this was a game critic from Beyond3D though? I consider that journalism, even if it isn't that professional.

It's just a forum post man, his impressions about the gameplay are on one of my previous posts, this time he described the technical aspect of the game because that's what people talk about the most over there. If you read all the posts with his mpressions you get a pretty complete analysis.

Seriously, it is extremely linear. Sexy as hell though, and the music is UNBELIEVABLE. Best soundtrack of the year. Best in any video game ever if it stays this good for the whole game.

You know, the extreme linearity issue certainly stinks, but after FFX that isn't really something that surprises me with this series anymore. The music though? OMFG. Just the few pieces I've heard blow EVERYTHING away. I've heard some hauntingly good soundtracks in my day - Planescape: Torment, the Shadow Hearts series, Xenogears, etc. - I certainly can't think of anything that compares. As an audiophile, the game just went from tentative interest to how quickly can I pick up a PS3 (under the assumption that Versus will have music even half as good).

Edit: of course, it could turn out to be that the rest of the music turns out to be pedestrian by comparison. But the optimist in me hopes that isn't the case.

« Last Edit: December 25, 2009, 04:49:37 PM by Ryos »

Logged

It's never too late to start learning; it's always too early to stop learning.

I'm almost 30 hours in and finally I'm at the "world map" type of area. A dollop of non- linearity has been added to the mix: Mission battles, "hunts," really, a la FFXII. That aside, the story just keeps dragging you along, kicking and screaming, occasionally stopping to beat you like a red-headed step child.

And yet...

I can't stop playing.

Every other aspect of the game is superlative. Graphics? Holy shit. Music? Fucking crazy. Battles? Actually challenging verging on epic at times. Story? Shit, I have no idea where it's going but I'm sold. Characters? Not a bad one in the lot, and Lightning is a shameless cold-blooded pimp goddess. Sazh and Fang are also cool.

FFXIII is the most epic dungeon crawler ever. Best RPG ever? I'm thinking no but I have to reserve judgment until the end. I'm guesstimating that 30 hours is around the halfway point. We shall see.

Huh, you're not the only one to have said that, though I'm assuming the language barrier isn't a factor for you. Not surprising really, and I doubt that's inherently a bad thing, but this does seem like another way they've taken cues from Call of Duty.

@Akira: If you could divulge, outside of these Mission-Dungeon-Hunt thingies, what level of character customization depth is there here, really? For example, FF6 had relics, 7 had Materia, 8 had its junction bullshit, and so forth. Comparatively, how deep would you rate 13's against its compatriots?

---lultangetWhenever I hear someone say "lack of exploration," part of me always twinges a bit on the inside. Videogames are created by people, and every thing you have to "explore" is something someone had to put there to be found.

For those who've played it, Cavia games are an excellent case of nothing to fucking explore ever––except for one or two hidden weapons that require finding 45 hidden paths continuously and killing every-enemy-except-one in every monster squadron (which is like 10,000 enemies) to get some weapon. Otogi, the Xbox titles, were also guilty of the same kind of absolute-bullshit requirements to unlock things, however, it made it pretty rewarding.

In regards to 13, I dunno, the lack of exploration between FF9 and 10 was a remarkable jump, but nobody was bothered too heavily by it in the end. I play videogames to be entertained; whether it by visual and auditory stimulation, or by mental and psychologically via gameplay or a story, etc. I think a lot of people on both sides of the fence have forgotten the beauty of secrets in games. Completing a Dragon Quest title, for example, used to mean you were an amazing fucking badass. Now-a-days, it's not too impressive since games feel more like they're being created to be completed, instead of "beaten," as it once was.

I think in the case of Final Fantasy X we had this amazing looking RPG the likes of which had never been seen before (and holds up fairly well) just a year after the PS2 came out, right at the time it was seriously worth owning. Compound this with the fact it actually helped the feel of the story and it's not too big of a surprise people weren't bothered with it that much then. FFXIII doesn't have the same next-gen advantage and certainly not the early release, and it's coming out after years of games deciding to following in FFX's footsteps or close enough.

That, and it seems removing towns is crossing the line for several people, but with the game being that linear you have to wonder if they'd be worth visiting if they were present.